Seth Godin (Founder at Yoyodyne Entertainment) Seth’s Blog: How to run a problem-solving meetingIgnore these rules at your peril: Only the minimum number of people should participate. Don’t invite anyone for political reasons. Don’t invite anyone to socialize them on the solution because they were part of inventing it–people don’t need to be in the kitchen to enjoy the meal at the restaurant. No one participating by conference call… it changes the tone of the proceedings. A very structured agenda to prevent conversation creep. You a… (read more)

Fred Wilson (Co-Founder and Partner at Union Square Ventures) Feature Friday: Simplified Conference Call Dialing – AVCI was in a board meeting last fall and was bemoaning how challenging it is to dial into a conference bridge with long pin numbers on your phone (particularly when you are driving). My friend Jordy said “Get MobileDay”. So I downloaded MobileDay and that issue has been fixed ever since. It’s a simple and well executed app.

David Jackson (Founder, Seeking Alpha) Why you should push your team to write (and hire people who can write) | A Founder’s NotebookI read somewhere that strategy meetings in Amazon start with the participants reading a paper about the topic. Benefits: (i) ensures there’s a clear “owner” for the topic, (ii) ensures that meetings are properly prepared for, (iii) ensures that people consider everything the “owner” has to say about the topic without interrupting, (iv) allocates time at the beginning of the meeting for everyone to prepare for the discussion.

David Jackson (Founder, Seeking Alpha) The optimal number of people in a meeting is… | A Founder’s NotebookThe optimal number of people in a meeting is two. that’s because its easier to understand and work with people one-on-one. You can give them your full attention, and you get their full attention. Where possible, I try to break down group discussions into a series of one-on-one conversations, led by the owner. It sounds like a lot more work, but its actually more effective and time efficient than group meetings.

Ev Williams (CEO of Medium, Co-founder of Twitter) How to End Every Meeting — MediumEnd every meeting with a “closing round. ” In a closing round, you go around the room and give everyone a chance to comment on the meeting. There is no discussion or back-and-forth allowed. It creates more mindfulness about what just happened—and how things might go better next time. And it lets you know where the group is at emotionally, as well as potential issues to follow up on that weren’t strictly part of the proceedings.

James Whittaker (Dintinguished Engineer and Technical Evangelist at Microsoft) The Anti Meeting Culture | JW on TechBuild an anti-meeting culture within your organization. Every meeting is useless until proven otherwise. Meeting organizers need to be put on notice: make this meeting meaningful, it’s your job.

David Jackson (Founder, Seeking Alpha) The Management Framework that Propelled LinkedIn to a $20 Billion Company | First Round ReviewWhile celebrating wins is hard but important, I know from personal experience that founders can be particularly bad at it. How LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner runs staff meetings was helpful: Weiner also kicks off these weekly staff meetings a bit unconventionally with wins. Before delving into metrics or the business at hand, he goes around the room and asks each of his direct reports to share one personal victory and one professional achievement from … (read more)

David Jackson (Founder, Seeking Alpha) Startup founders’ most common mistake in meetings — and how to avoid it | A Founder’s Notebook1. Make your key goal for the meeting to learn from the other person. Keep that goal in mind during the meeting and as you’re preparing for it. You might find it changes your behavior in unusual ways. 2. Send background information in advance. You’d be surprised at how willingly people will read material in advance. 3. Before the meeting, write down questions to ask the person. Many founders tell you about their product and company, and then thin… (read more)